


It Just Keeps Getting Better!

by DixieDale



Category: Clan O'Donnell - Fandom, Garrison's Gorillas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 10:42:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15338145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale
Summary: An update from Jake, one of the bartenders at The Doves, on the after-the-war doings in the village.





	It Just Keeps Getting Better!

**Author's Note:**

> This is especially for those of my readers who have developed a fondness for the supporting characters as well as Garrison and his guys.

As related by Jake, bartender at The Doves:

The war over, the men coming home, us rebuilding what got burned or bombed out. That was as far ahead as we thought, mostly. Maybe we figured somehow those things would make all the troubles go away, stay away, but of course that wasn't the case. But we're making it through, just the same way we did it through the war, shoulder to shoulder.

And it's sort of funny; it's the SAME shoulders, lined up next to each other, working together to get the job done. Garrison and Goniff and Chief, Casino and Actor; the O'Donnell Miss; Gil Rawlins and Miss Rebecka, Reverend Standish, me and Lou and Nellie and Josie, Old Howie, Della Wilson, the Rileys, the Millers, all of us from the village (well, most of us, anyway). Yes, those from up at the Mansion, the Lieutenant-that-was and his team, Sergeant Major Rawlins, they stayed on, and we're the better for that by far.

Some of those who came back, either from the soldiering or just from whatever 'safer' place they'd found to go to, they didn't much like the new alliances, didn't understand. Some changed their minds after they heard the stories, met those they hadn't met before, saw how the rest of us felt. Those settled in just fine.

Some didn't of course; those tended not to stay. Funny, now I think on it, NONE of them stayed, just went and found a place more to their liking, once they figured out we weren't gonna turn our backs on those who'd stood beside us during the war. More peaceful that way, to my way of thinking; can't think of a one I'd miss, in fact, not one blessed one.

George, Nellie's husband, made it home safe and sound, and a happier pair you'd not see. As for their two boys, well it took them awhile to get over the fact that this man they'd pretty much known only from old photographs was really their dad, but they decided they liked him just fine, and Nellie's dad was pure delighted - always thought the world of George, he did.

The O'Donnell miss and the others up at The Cottages, they threw a fine party to celebrate George coming back, them being real fond of Nellie. Food and drink and music and all! And right here at the pub and all, the pub they'd bot and built out to include a place for a community center and even more. George wasn't too sure what to think, but Jake and me, we took George aside to let him know what the guys had done, not just for the village, but keeping an eye out for Nellie and Josie, not letting them get taken advantage if they were around, just like how Lou and I tried to do. Told him just what they probably had kept from happening when the pubs in the area starting having troubles, when Craig Garrison (then Lieutenant Garrison) and Casino had gotten hurt after seeing Nellie and Josie home that time. Thought he should know, and he seemed real glad I told him; saw him talking to the men later, shaking hands and all.

I'd told him about the O'Donnell miss too, her taking up for both Nellie and Josie and the other local women, helping keep the soldiers in line; he'd remembered her from before, laughed and said he could just believe she had!

Doby sidled up to George, tried to whisper some trash in his ear about Nellie kinda favoring the Lieutenant, how he wouldn't be surprised if . . .; Doby ended up dunked in the water trough out back AND locked in the gossip stocks; took Ben Miller a heck of a long time to find the key too, a lot longer than usual. 

Anyway, like I was saying, some others came home, a few didn't, some because they couldn't but a couple because they just couldn't seem to see settling back in a little place like this after being out in the big world. Well, I never had much hankering for anywhere else, but I can understand those that do.

There were one or two what came home that we'd not have missed too much if they hadn't, just between you and me, though they tended not to stay for some reason. That fool Mackenzie Jenks, for one. Served in an Infantry regiment, came home from fighting the war and decided to start a new one right here. Doby Clevens' fault, mostly, for telling tales as usual, but there was no reason for Mac to believe his nonsense or starting some of his own, except they were thick as thieves back when they were youngsters, now that I remember it.

The two of them started in on Miss Rebecka, well, Mrs. Gil Rawlins she is now, though not at the time, over that wickedness that bloody playmaster started about her, and Gil and the men from The Cottages answering back to the two of them and Mac's infantry buddies with their fists. Casino got real banged up, one of Mac's friends being built like a bull elephant. Seems it was real touch and go for Casino for awhile; didn't like to see that - he's worth a hundred MacKenzie Jenk's, hands down! Ben Miller sorted everything out, but Mac headed back to Bayside where his folks moved to, and hopefully will stay there; no one here is encouraging him otherwise. Doby ended up in the stocks again; amazing how often that happened back then. 

Now? Well, believe it or not, some lawyer came round and seems Doby's uncle or something of his left that good-for-naught Doby a little bit of money, an annuity you know, and a mite of property, over in Canada, under the condition he had to live there and not leave, and he emigrated, the lawyer even paying his passage! Odd name, that lawyer, 'Shjean'; don't think I've heard that one before, or least not spelled like his was.

Good luck to them, is all we have to say, there in the town where he went. Talked about getting up a collection to ship those Gossip Stocks over, figuring they'd need them, but it was decided it was just too bloody expensive, what with them being made of good English oak and all. Weigh a bloody ton, they do! The O'Donnell lass, though, she says she can come up with a set of blueprints that would suit just as well; we're mailing those off next week.

Funny about that uncle of his; Doby was as surprised as anyone, never even heard of the guy before, he said, though not about to turn down an inheritance, acourse. Goniff and the O'Donnell miss got the oddest smiles when I remarked on that, kinda makes a person wonder. Those two, was always glad they were on our side, you know? Well, them and the others up at The Cottages; figure things might have gone different round here otherwise.

Josie and me finally ended up together; it was a close thing and I almost blew it, came close to losing her, but she forgave me for being an idiot. Wasn't sure she would, but she said if the O'Donnell Miss could forgive her two for being idiots as often as was needful, and Miss Rebecka could forgive Gil, and Alice could forgive Ben, and Sheila . . . well, you get the idea - well, she guessed she could forgive me. Though she told me she didn't intend to make much of a habit of it, so I needed to take heed of that, and I do my best, I truly do. Josie, she's worth making a bit of an effort for, she is, and I'm more than happy to take my fist to any who think to say otherwise.

Lou? Well, he stayed here working at the pub, and when his friend Ephron came home from the war, they bought one of the pieces of property, cottage and a little bit of ground, from those up at The Cottages and settled in together.

Lou was over the age to serve, just a bit, even during that last roundup; me, in case you're wondering, well, they weren't calling up men with pieces missing - that accident when I wasn't more than a tike took out the sight in one eye, and while I kept both hands, only the right one works like it should. No one around here seems to pay any of that any mind, and Josie doesn't pay it any mind either, never has, so that's well enough.

Anyway, back to Lou and Ephron - Ephron was a little nervous, I think, wondering what would be said, how people would react, but by then, well, wasn't the most unusual of living arrangements around here. Lou said that's what made him decide to stay, not have them start over somewhere neither of them were known, where they could put it about they were brothers or some such. Back when they'd met, up London way well before the war, that's what they'd thought to do, was what they'd said when Lou would visit him; but what with Brandonshire being so accepting of The Cottages and those living up there, this just seemed like the best place to settle.

And don't you go thinking it's like some places, where those that 'have' can do as they like but point a finger at the have-not's for doing the same. Lou told Ephron that, that anyone thinking to cause trouble would have the whole lot from The Cottages down on them, and that was true enough. Seems he'd already put the question to them, and there was no hesitation, not with any of them. Those guys, wouldn't want to go up against them, bar fight or otherwise, nor the lass either. Still peppery as can be, she is, maybe even more so since the youngsters started coming along. She protects what she considers her own, and that covers most all of Brandonshire now.

Like I said, Gil ended up marrying Miss Rebecka, and we were all pleased about that. He's a good one, right enough, one we're happy to have stay on. He stayed on with the military for awhile, but now he works with Miss Rebecka running the orphanage and the elder hostel we built when we found we had the need. There were those who would have been looked after by their own families, but the war and one thing and another, well, some of them just didn't HAVE any family to look after them, and even some that do, they appreciate having a little spot of their own and the company.

There's another place, too, not so easy to define. Some live there who have no place else, though they're able bodied; some need some help, and there's those there to do the helping. Some of the soldiers who came back, they're living there. There's gardens there that get tended; kitchen gardens for their own use, some for selling to others; flower gardens as well. There's a couple of dogs, maybe more; a few cats; even a parrot, I think. The O'Donnell Miss, she calls it a 'group home', but the name over the door says 'Villa Tearmann '. Most that live there just call it 'home'.

That place and the elder hostel, those are what you might call joint ventures, between the village and those up at The Cottages. They have some right good ideas, some good minds up there, and them willing to put strong hands to work right along with the rest in making things happen, strong hands and a mite else too; unlike some, they're not ones for keeping a crimping hand on the purse strings, not when there's a real need.

The Cottages just keep growing, more building on, more land put into that kitchen garden. Think that wall has been rebuilt three times or more now. I've never been inside the living space, though have been to parties out in the gardens; well, few have been inside, other than those who live there, except for Ben and Alice Miller, and Doc Riley and Sheila, and Gil and Rebecka, and a very few others. Well, that's more than in the early days, for sure, but still, it's a private place mostly. Actor married Miss Lynn, and that was one of those things that surprised you when you heard about it, but then seemed to make sense and you wondered why you were surprised, you know? They seem happy, as do the others up there.

There's new ones up at The Cottages, probably more will come; seems like the family, or as good as family anyway, just keeps growing. Miss Lizzie first, we still call her that, though she ended up tying the knot with Chief. There's a story there, one maybe Lou and I are the only ones outside the family to know; we intend to keep it that way too. They're good neighbors to us, and that needs to go both ways, including knowing when to keep your trap shut. I've more than a few secrets tucked away inside, as does Lou; they'll stay that way too. 

The younger brother of the O'Donnell miss, Douglas, he came not long thereafter, permanent like, I mean, he'd come visiting plenty before that, of course; he's there most of the time, but travels alot; well, they all do, though the lass perhaps least of them. For the most part, they come and go about that business they have, not that I truly understand the ins and outs of that any better than most others round here, but that's fine, there's no need for any of us to.

As I said, they come and go, and she's there to wave them goodbye and hand out hugs and kisses when they come home, her and young Randy and that little ball of red-headed mischief, M'Coury they call her. Coo, her mum to the hair, and then some! 

Doc Riley and Sheila, they stayed on til toward the end of the war, were away for quite awhile, helping up in London, where they'd come from, but came back last month, this time maybe for good. We were happy to see them back, but will miss the two young doc's we'd been sent in their place, Colin Myer and Deacon O'Donnell. They'd said not to call them doctor, that they weren't quite yet, but couldn't have proved it by us. Did a real bang up job for us, they did! Ben and Alice's daughter, Molly? She's leaving too, her and Colin deciding to make a match of it. Her parents are sad to see her leave, but they're right pleased with her choice, so that counts for something.

The Cottages, they've been buying land as it becomes available, cottages when they go vacant, paying decent prices for it too. Well, they've never been the sort to take advantage.

Had to laugh, Ben Miller was in here telling me one of his old friends was passing through; works up in the Registry Office, he does, and was all concerned about that. Well, Ben put him straight, right enough. Yes, you look around, it's the ones who lived here through the war and got on well together; if not fast friends, then agreeable neighbors. The newcomers, turns out they mostly know those up at The Cottages, are friends and family, though somehow when they say it, any of them, it's like it's all capitalized, you know - Friends and Family. 

The few who've come other than those, if they fit in, fine. Those that didn't fit in, they didn't stay long. That fancy teacher who wanted to start a nursery school for the tikes and charge more than a pretty penny for the doing, she's one that didn't stay. Miss O'Donnell took exception to the woman snatching young Randy off the streets and setting him down in her classroom just like The Cottages were paying her fee, which they WEREN'T, mind you; why she'd want to do that, when she was demanding a goodly sum for teaching the others there, I don't know. She made some mention about him 'running wild'. 'being neglected', 'poor little waif', and if that wasn't the most foolish thing I'd ever heard, and any of the rest of us as well. They didn't keep the boy on a leash, certainly but even from the early days, he wasn't one that needed that. Smart as a whip, too, all of them up there taking part in teaching him.

Well, she snatched him one time too many, tried filing a 'neglect' charge with Ben Miller, and Ben just came back with a whole slew of charges against HER. She was gone within the month, and frankly, I think the parents of the others were just as happy. She thought every tike was just like a cookie-cutter sweet, each needing the same thing as the other, taking the same amount of time for learning something, each needing to BE the same as the other! None of the grown-ups around here are that, can't see the tikes taking that road. Well, Miss Rebecka, at what used to be the Orphanage? She started her own nursery school, a quarter the rates, maybe even less, and did just fine with the tikes; well, she always did have a knack with them, treating them each like they're a person all their own.

Got a feeling The Cottages makes up any shortfall there; I know they supplied the library and the teaching books and such, helped them set up their own kitchen garden, sees that the doctor takes good care of them all, even gets glasses for those what need it.

And they don't call it the Orphanage any more, not on the sign. Seems everyone just started calling it 'Miss Rebecka's place', and one day the old sign came down, and the new one? Well, that's just what it said 'Miss Rebecka's Place', and it's not just orphans who can live there now but any youngster needing a safe spot. It's a happier place than you'd think it could be.

Anyhow, back to that friend of Ben's from the Registry Office. Wondered if we'd noticed all those cottages, that land being bought up, wondered if we felt them up at The Cottages were taking advantage of us. Like he thought we were blind to what was going on or something! Said he'd heard it called Brandonshire Enclave more than once, rather than Brandonshire Village , or just Brandonshire. Was that something that needed to be looked into? Well, Ben let him know how things stand, what the village thinks of it all, and he went away feeling better about it, I think.

Taken advantage of? Brandonshire and the surrounding area? We're better off than most anywhere around. Lou and me, we put it down to what we did during the war, standing shoulder to shoulder, Friends and Family, all of us, getting the job done, helping each other along. That's what we all do now, and I have to tell you, it works. It works just fine.


End file.
